one day at a time
by ElectrickEnigma
Summary: is the mantra Lexi Levesque (ofc,daughter of HHH/ofc prior to Steph/HHH) is trying to live by these days. She hasn't seen her family and has barely talked to them in 2 or more years, after running off to marry a man they didn't approve of. When that man turns out to be a monster, she returns home reluctantly to try and mend fences. Will she be able? Is she in danger? r
1. Never Too Late To Go Home

She stood in the doorway of her father's office, biting her lower lip. It'd been a rough 2 years for her, really. She'd estranged herself from her family, she'd lost touch with all of her friends, she'd basically fallen off of the damn map for 2 years.. And only to have her loyalty and her trust, her views on love and forever completely twisted and warped.

Lexi Levesque knew she never should have ran off and married that guy, Will, but she had. She was her father's daughter after all, stubborn to the core, determined to do everything on her own, in her own way. And now, she stood here, hoping to hell she hadn't completely lost everything she held dear to her.

Clearing her throat, she stepped into the room, smoothing her hands down over her denim mini as she said quietly, "Daddy?"

Paul looked up and blinked in surprise as he sighed and stood, walking to where she stood hesitantly, in the doorway. "You're back." he muttered as he hugged her, then looked her over in concern.. She just didn't seem like the same outgoing and slightly wild Alexis that she'd been when she left their estate that night in anger, because she loved the guy she wanted to marry, and her father tried to stop her from doing that very thing.

"Yeah. Turns out you were right, daddy.. And I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. About everything not just the night I left, the fight we had and the things I said." Lexi muttered as she bit her lip, looking at her hands, trying not to cry.

She could still hear Will, in her head, all the things he said to her, the hurtful things, the disgusting things, the things that tore her down so low that now she wasn't even sure if she was worth anything to anyone.

And then there was the violence she suffered through, not telling anyone because she was pretty damn sure she'd lost her family, anyone who might have cared about her.

After all, he'd practically made sure she had no contact with anyone who might figure out what was going on and try to 'save' her.

"Is that a bruise?" he asked, suddenly seeing the old bruises and scars on her body, the anger rising up in him quickly as he realized what must have happened to keep her from reaching out.

He felt sick now.

"Dad, don't, please? It was a long drive, and I'm beat. I'll talk about it when I'm ready."

"So you're staying then?"

"At the hotel for now, yes. Until you guys go back on the road. I'll.."

"You're coming too. I mean it, Alexis." Paul said firmly as he looked at his oldest child, wanting to go find Will and kill him, personally.

"So you're not going to tell me to get lost, forget you exist? I mean I deserve it, dad, I was a shit back then." Lexi muttered as Paul shook his head, hugged her tightly as he said quietly, "A shit you might have been, Lexi, but you're my daughter. Like it or not, we're kinda stuck with one another, huh?" he joked, their inside joke with each other.

"Yeah... You're sure you want me to come back?"

"If you ask me that one more time, Alexis."

"Sorry, I just.." she bit her lower lip as she sighed and fell silent.

"C'mon. Let's go find your stepmom." Paul said as he looped his a rm around his daughter's shoulders, trying not to wince when he felt just how skinny she was. What the hell had this guy done to her? And why hadn't she just called them to help her, sooner?

He got a sick and bad feeling, but he knew if he pushed too much, she might leave again, and if she left again, he might not ever see her again.

He'd never seen her look this defeated before.

They found Stephanie backstage, and Paul explained the situation while Lexi hovered in the doorway as if she were unsure if she'd be accepted, should she walk into the room.

Stephanie sighed as she said quietly, "What's wrong?"

Paul shrugged and looked back at his oldest daughter as he said "Don't know. All I do know is that she's been through hell. Or she looks like it at least. And if I see that little son of a bitch Will? He's dead."

"She didn't tell you where she's been or why she hadn't called, anything?" Stephanie asked, getting the sense that something was very, very wrong with the girl she'd taken and adopted, tried her best to make the girl feel loved, because god knows her real mother, Mona hadn't bothered.

"I asked, she begged off, said she'd talk when she was ready."

"She needs to talk now, not when she's ready."

"Just trust me, Steph.. If we push too much, she'll leave and we won't be able to help her. I told her she was staying with us, she seemed relieved."

"She looks like she hasn't slept or eaten.. I agree, Paul. If this Will person shows up, you do whatever you have to do. I'm gonna go talk to dad, let him know so security doesn't just let the jerk past the door."

Stephanie stopped in front of Lexi and hugging her tightly said quietly in her ear, "You're home now. Whatever's wrong, we'll fix it, okay?"

Lexi sighed and said quietly, "Mom.. This time, I don't think it can be fixed.. I just.." as she bit her lip and said quietly, "I'm sorry.. All you ever did was try to be my mom, treat me like your own kid and I just.."

"Shh.. It's alright. You were in a dark place and you still are.. It's alright, okay? Let's just worry about getting you out of that dark place now, okay?"

Lexi agreed even though deep down, she just didn't feel like she'd ever come out of the darkness. It'd been a huge part of her life for so long, she just got the feeling that she didn't know where to start.

"C'mon, green butterfly. Let's go sit in the skybox, watch the show with your sisters until Dad's gotta go down to the ring and work, okay?"

"Okay, daddy."

She followed him to the skybox and getting seated, she got into watching, while also doing a lot of thinking. Tonight hadn't been an easy thing for her to do, by any means, given all the hell she'd put her biological father and her stepmother through before she'd done what she had and left, with no word, no contact for 2 years.

They seemed to think she'd be okay again, that she'd be happy one day. She didn't see it now, but maybe in the long run, they'd be right.

She had to be a little hopeful.

Sighing, she bit her lip as she watched the doors and aisles carefully. She wasn't stupid, she knew when she left, he'd most likely show up.

But she was where she felt safest now, so maybe if all hell broke loose..

"You okay?"

"Yeah dad, just thinking."

"If you're worried about him showing up, hurting you, don't be. I'm gonna kill him when I see him again."

She pretended that eased her mind, even tried making small talk with her half sisters and her father, but deep down, she was scared to death... Even if she were surrounded by family, in the place she felt safest, she still felt like he'd show up at any moment, and the nightmare would begin again.

And she hated feeling like that.

She also hated not telling her father exactly what'd happened to her, what she'd went through, but she just couldn't bring herself to talk about it right now. But coming here, staying with her family, for the moment, felt like the best and the only right decision she'd made in a really long time. Now she just had to hope that she could eventually be okay again.

For now, she'd just worry about at least trying to make it through one day after another without living in complete and total fear. Which begged to question.. She'd finally come back to her family, she was trying to get back on her feet..


	2. My Own Worst Enemy

She'd just checked into the hotel, lain down in her bed, and she grumbled quietly, disgusted with herself when she lie there, straining against the darkness, waiting on a door to be knocked in off the hinges, her to be dragged from bed, have to endure more drunken yelling and cruelty, violence from her soon to be ex husband, Will.

Would she ever not look for and find all the exits in a room just in case? Would she ever not flinch when a sudden movement came too close to her? She'd been away from him a little a year now, and she'd spent all of that time trying to run from him.

He always seemed to find her, and he always seemed to drag her back in to his web, kicking and screaming.

This last time, when she'd woken up in a hospital with IVs attached and discovered that not only had she been pregnant, but she'd miscarried because of Will's abuse the night prior, it'd taken her to the darkest place she'd been yet, within herself.

She bit her lower lip as she lie there, the omnious and heavy silence in the room giving her imagination entirely too much leeway, too many scary scenarios invaded her mind, playing in front of her eyes like miniature horror movies.

"You're not this fucking girl, Lexi. Get a grip already." she whispered to herself as she finally gave up on sleep for the night, stood and walked to the window, peeking through the curtains, looking up at the moon.

Before she realized it, she'd walked to the mini bar in the room, and she was about halfway into a bottle, drunk.

She seemed to spend a lot of her time like that lately. Losing a baby she hadn't even known she was carrying at the time, then finding out she'd probably never have children again, ever..

It'd made her realize a lot of things about herself, a lot of her past came back, haunted her. The most important thing it'd made her realize though, was that she wanted her family in her life, she wanted to reach out and mend things between herself and her birth father, her stepmother.

She didn't want to be totally alone.

Even if she couldn't let them in right now, she couldn't bring herself to talk about everything she'd been through, or why she kept staying, why she'd always been so much difficulty for her father and his wife Stephanie.

These were things she felt she had to work through on her own, and she knew she'd have to do it soon, or everything was going to pile in on her, consume her.

She didn't want that, but it just hurt too damn much to talk about. All of it. Not just losing the baby, the fact that she might not ever be a mother again, or the reason she kept going back to Will.

All she wanted right now was to make things right with her family, try and slowly rebuild her life with at least a shred of dignity left.

Stubborn pride kept her from reaching out for help beyond that. And she hadn't been intending to reach out for help earlier, when she'd shown up back at the arena, to apologize to her father, her stepmother, see her younger half sisters.

Her fist connected with the wall and she let herself feel some of the anger she'd been holding back.

About 10 minutes later, she stood in the middle of a semi destroyed hotel room and raked her hand slowly through caramel blonde hair, biting her lower lip as she sighed and staggered out onto the balcony.

Peering down, she had a passing thought about throwing herself over, ending it all, but she knew she wasn't that weak. It was only a passing thought, one of many dark ones she had often, as of late.

She laughed a little as she took a long slow pull from the second or third bottle of the night and leaned back against the wall, letting the cool wind that blew caress her, letting the rain soak her skin.

"You okay over there?" a voice called out from the next terrace. She stumbled over her words but finally managed to get out a halfassed decent "I'm fine, okay?"

"Didn't sound like it." the female voice called out carefully as she stood and said calmly, "Yeah, well I'm fine, d-damn it."

On the balcony beside her, AJ looked in the direction of the drunken voice and held up her cell phone, lighting the darkness so she could partially see this other girl, she'd been concerned and truthfully, halfway tempted to call hotel security when she thought she heard a fight going on in the room beside her own.

"Damn.. Can you maybe kill the fucking light?" Lexi asked stiffly as she shielded her alcohol hazed eyes with one hand clumsily.

" Were you over there fighting just now or something?"

"Look.. I don't want any t-trouble.. Just leave it alone."

But AJ could look at the other female and she just had this feeling that the last thing the girl on the other balcony needed was for things to be left alone.

She looked vaguely familiar, so AJ strained before ultimately putting on her glasses to see better.

Then she gasped.

"Lexi?"  
Lexi's head snapped up as she tried to make the small area stop spinning. She recognized AJ's voice, it served to sober her up. That was all she needed , really, AJ getting too damn nosy, calling her father up here, saying she'd heard sounds of a fight.

AJ hadn't ever really liked her when she'd also been a rookie on the roster for a short time at the age of 20.

"Ah, this is just.. It's j-just f-fuckin great. Look, do not call anybody. I just tri-pped a -a f-few times and knocked some stuff over." she managed as AJ nodded and then asked, "When did you get back?"

"A f-few hours ag-go."

The two females sat on their respective balconies, silent for the most part, as AJ asked her own question. She'd been curious.. Lexi had actually been a p retty good wrestler.. What made her walk away from something she'd obviously loved so much back then?

"Why'd you quit professional wrestling?"

"Why do you care.. I'd thi-ink y-you'd have b-been f-fucking happy I left."

"Because you were actually really, really good. And you weren't fake like the other girls on the roster."

"Yet you hated me."

"I didn't hate you."

"c-coulda fooled me back then."

AJ stared at her hands and then called out, "I'm gonna come over. I feel like an ass shouting from balcony to balcony."

"W-whatever."

Seconds later, AJ knocked and Lexi let her in, reluctantly. "Wow, what the hell, Lexi?" AJ gasped as she turned to look at the equally short and tiny blonde who shrugged and muttered something to the effect of, 'Shit happens', as she slid on some baggy basketball shorts and started to pop the top off of yet another bottle.

"Whoa, don't you think you've had enough?"

"I'll stop when I'm ready. It feels better than thinking and feeling, trust me."

"Talking to people's better than this." AJ said grimly as she swept her arms out around the room.

"Yeah? Well I can't because.."

"Why?"

"It's all my own fault, okay? And besides, I got myself into it, all of it. Should have listened to my dad."

AJ said nothing, instead, she tried to come up with a neutral conversation. "Are you back on the roster?"

"Nope. I'm probably gonna leave tomorrow. Go back to my dads."

"Why?"

"Because, AJ.. Being back here wouldn't do me any good, he'd catch up to me and.." Lexis trailed off as she fell silent, looked at her hands, the way they shook a little.

She didn't drink all the time, but lately, it seemed to be the only thing that'd help her not think about everything her one stupid and stubborn mistake cost her in the long run.

She wanted to fight again, but she didn't know if she had anything left, if she had anything, honestly, to begin with.

"Ahh.. So it's dealing with a guy."

Lexi tensed and said quietly, "More or less, not so much the guy, just the mess I'm in now.. And what said guy cost me." as she bit her lip and then said quietly, "I just thought.."

"What?"

"That he was the one. The guy who'd love me no matter what, beyond all my faults and flaws, the pathetic uselessness."

AJ looked at her and then asked, "The bruises.. Did he hurt you?"

"Among other things, yes."

"Does your dad know?"

"Yeah. And he's ready to kill the guy. Too bad it won't change anythign that's happened already or I'd have killed the guy myself. I hate feeling this much anger, hating myself for all of this.. But I only have myself to blame.. What idiot turns her back on family, on everyone who actually cares about her for the one person who doesn't?"

AJ sat quietly, not sure how to answer, or whether Lexi wanted an answer.

"Thanks.."

"For what?"

"Coming over to see if I were okay."

"I got worried, it sounded really, really bad over here."

"Sorry, if I woke you up.."

"I wasn't sleeping. Too much on my mind."

"So talk about it."

"Okay, fine.. I'm sort of getting sick of the other girls in the locker room, they're all so full of themselves now."

"Ahh, yeah. That Total Divas bullshit."

"You saw it, huh?"

"Yeah. Totally Stupid Cunts is what they should call that show. I mean really, nobody cares about what goes on in the lives of the Bellas when they're not on screen." Lexi said honestly as AJ giggled a moment, her hand going to her mouth.

Even when Lexi was at her wildest, before, she hadn't ever just spoken that bluntly, that honestly about something. She was more or less the hold it in and take it all with a smile kind of girl.

"What? It's true." Lexi stated, lighting a cigarette as AJ coughed and asked, "When in the hell did you take up smoking?"

"AJ, there's a lot about me that's different now."

"I'm realizing this, yes.. Look.. I know we weren't on the best terms before.. Do you wanna maybe, start over?"

Lexi shrugged and said "Don't see what it'll hurt.", still under the illusion she'd be leaving, going back to her parents home in a few days.

"Are you coming to the show tomorrow?"

"I might. Not gonna promise anything."

"Do it. Just trust me. A lot's changed."

"Just keep my ex, Punk away from me, and we're golden."

"What about Zack?"

She flinched a little at the mention of his name and asked bitterly, "What about him? He's still with Torres, right?"

"God no. That's been over."

"Good for him. I can stomach him.. Just not Punk. "

"Why not?"

"There's a lot that happened there that nobody really knows about.. Well, this one guy does.. But he's gone now.. Or something.." Lexi shrugged as she thought about the guy in question, Jon Moxley.

She hadn't seen nor spoken to him or heard from him, since she'd met him a few years ago, they'd had their brief little thing together.

That remained largely a secret.

Hardly anyone knew about it. It'd happened between having her heart torn out by Punk and then crushed when Zack chose Eve over her offscreen.

They'd just both sort of written it off as a fling, because to their knowledge, that's all it had been, really.

Sometimes though, she'd wonder if she wanted more, back then.

"Okay, if I keep Punk away from you, will you please come to Smackdown? At least so I'll have someone to talk to?"

"Sure." Lexi said as she leaned back, groaning at the headache that was beginning.

"Yeah.. You're going to have the headache from hell.. Let's get you over there, on the bed." AJ mumbled as she stood, pulled the blonde from the couch, steadying her, helping her to her bed.

"I'm gonna put my number in your phone. If you want to talk, call me. This isn't the answer, Lexi and deep down, you know that."

Lexi nodded, keeping quiet.

When AJ left, she shoved her head under her pillow, tried to get some sleep without reliving every nightmare she'd lived through for the better part of 2, no, make that almost 3 years.

"This time, I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch if he comes here after me." she resolved firmly as she finally fell asleep.

She'd go to Smackdown tomorrow night, then she'd go back to her parent's house.

* * *

Authors Note:

This story will most likely have a lot of dark themes in it. Lexi is at a bad place in her life, and she's on somewhat of a destructive bend. That being said, there will also be a lot of angst, maybe some violence (domestic, if her ex makes an appearance). For her bio, read my profile, but understand, she's been through hell, so she might seem a LOT different than she reads on my profile for a while. This is really a story about getting back on your feet after you've been put through literal hell.

The **only** pairing suggestions I'm taking are **Dean Ambrose** or **Zack Ryder**, **maybe Randy Orton**, though I honestly do not see how he'd figure into all this, given she's only had past ties to Dean and Zack.

No flames, please? I'm not a good writer, I'm aware of this already. And I write things as if some of the kayfabe were real. So if you don't like that concept you won't like the onscreen parts in this.

Question: Should I have her come back in as a Diva, or have her come back in some lesser capacity like maybe a hair and makeup person or a medic? Or have her doing one of those AND being a partial Diva? I can't decide and it's driving me up a wall.


	3. A Few Chance Run Ins

"I'm never touching a bottle again." Lexi winced as she sat up, lights from the open balcony door on her hotel room streaming in, bouncing off the pristine white walls of the hotel room, blinding her.

Then she heard a knock on her door. Grumbling, she slid on her fitted gray camisole and walked to the door, only to have a coffee thrust into her hands as AJ said quietly, "Thought we could go down and get breakfast together or something. It's better for you than staying up here, being alone with your mind."

"I'll be fine, AJ."

"Just come down with me, please?"

"Okay, alright, fine, damn."

She grabbed her dark lensed sunglasses and then found a DX t shirt, slid her feet into some hot pink and lime green Nike Air Force Ones and said "Ready."

"You're going down.. Like that?"

"What the hell is wrong with this?"

"You look like hell."

"And? I did drink from midnight to almost 2."

"But the Lexi I knew wouldn't dare leave her room without at least brushing her hair."

"The Lexi you knew then, AJ, if you remember our little talk last night, is gone. This is me."

AJ sighed and then said calmly, "Okay, let's go then."

They stepped out of her room and walked down the stairs, into the crowded buffet seating area, where breakfast was being served to the roster, currently.

Right away, she saw the Bellas and right away, she rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Ya mean someone hasn't called the pound, yet?" she asked AJ casually as she nudged her, nodded in the direction of the twins.

AJ blinked then smirking shrugged as she added aloud, "Nope, apparently not."

"What the hell did you just say to me, Levesque? Lee?"

"You heard me. Dog."

"At least I'm not the roster slut. You reek. Fall in a vat of tequila?"

Lexi stood, shoving her chair out, leaning across the table as she smirked and said "At least I can get dick. You two have to steal dick."

"Oh wow.. What a biting comeback, drunk."

"Fuck you both in the ass with spoons.. Or cucumbers." Lexi spat as AJ stifled a laugh and then spoke up calmly as she said "If I were you two, I'd leave now."

Lexi nodded and said "Oh and by the way, Brie.. I mgiht have fallen into a vat of tequila.. But at least I didn't fuckin fall down the ugly tree, hit every branch on my way down, then get dragged through the ugly forest."

Brie and Nikki growled and then Eva pointed out, "She's pathetic. I mean if she were on the roster, it'd be worth it.. But she couldn't even hack it when she was on the roster, she ran off, remember?"

"Who the fuck is this? Ronald McDonald's bastard child?" Lexi asked as AJ high fived her and then laughing said "Good one."

"If they let her back on the roster, they're only proving that the word Diva isn't meant to be glamourous or sexy, it's meant to include anyone, even trash like her. We all know she only even got in the company because daddy is the COO. It's hardly fair." Brie and Nikki stated as Lexi fumed and sat down then muttered, "Fuck off before I break my promise to myself and trash this room with your fucking heads."

"Ooh... so she thinks she can go against us, girls, did you hear that? Cute, Lexis.. But remember last time?"

"We both know, Brie, that was not a fair fight. You had 4, I had nofuckingone."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Nah.. Why bother? I can just wait on karma to kick your asses. You're not worth it." Lexi mused as she sat back down, rubbing her head.

"Good one, Lexi. That was awesome."

AJ was impressed because before, Lexi sort of just kept quiet, she didn't fight back with the other girls.

"Still say you're not sure if you have it in you? Because from what I saw, Lexi.." AJ mused as Lexi shrugged then said "Well, it would help with the anger.. But I'm just not sure.."

Across the buffet, Paul watched his daughter, stifling a laugh as he said quietly, "Think she'd consider coming back? You know how much she loved it before she left.."

Stephanie shrugged and then said quietly, "I'm all for anything that keeps her safe and might make her happy again. I've never seen her look that defeated before."

"I'll talk to Vince about renewing her contract, maybe getting her on with the medics while she's training again. I don't want her out of my sight."

"Me either, baby."

AJ sprang up and said with a slight grin, "C'mon."

"Urhh, where?"

"To the gym with me. We'll see if you still have it. It's like riding a bike."

"But..My head is killing me."

"Sweating out the alcohol will do you a lot of good. Come on." AJ whined insistently as Lexi stood, followed her out of the door.

She'd just stepped out when she smacked straight into Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.

She gaped at him a moment, then shook her head. He probably didn't remember her, no sense in speaking.

As AJ and the blonde walked off, it hit Dean where he'd seen her before, and he bit his lower lip, his hand in his damp hair as he watched her walking off.

"What the fuck happened to her?" he wondered aloud before following his friends into the crowded serving area to grab a quick breakfast.

"Okay, so explain that." AJ asked as Lexi said quietly, "Just thought he was.. Nevermind, I did drink half the damn mini bar last night, and he was the last person I thought about before falling asleep.."

"Dean Ambrose? But why though?"

"No, the guy I told you about."

She thought a moment and then it hit her.. Dean Ambrose was what Jon Moxley went by these days, if she remembered correctly.

She shoved it out of her head, and they'd just stepped off of the elevator when she saw another familiar face.

"Lexi?" Zack asked as he blinked at her, startled to see her.

"Zack, hi."

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern, his eyes taking in the dark circles under her eyes, the old fading bruises, the hollow look in her normally golden brown eyes.

"Yeah. Just had a rough night." Lexi said casually, trying to keep the conversation from being awkward.

"Are you back or visiting?"

"Don't know yet."

"Hope you're back." he admitted as she shrugged and let AJ lead her into the fitness area.

"Okay, so that's out of the way." she muttered to herself as she stretched, listened to AJ explaining just how far downhill the Divas division had gone.

"Wow.. Seriously? It's that bad?"

"Mhmm, and it's only getting worse."

They stepped into the ring together, sparring intently. When they finally looked up at a clock, it was almost 12.

"Wow.. That was actually fun."

"If you wanna come back.. I can talk to your dad about letting you work with me?"

"I just might.. I'll see how tonight goes." Lexi said warily, too afraid to make any promises.

Becasue,after all, she might have to run again before it was all said and done. And then there was the fact that she might not have what it took to be a professional wrestler, even though she'd loved it the short time she'd been on the roster. She just might not be good enough, and she wasn't about to be one of those girls who used 'daddy's name' to get by in life.

She hadn't been before and she wasn't gonna start now. It'd taken her this long to finally reach out to her family when she'd gotten herself in over her head.

* * *

Authors Note:

This story will most likely have a lot of dark themes in it. Lexi is at a bad place in her life, and she's on somewhat of a destructive bend. That being said, there will also be a lot of angst, maybe some violence (domestic, if her ex makes an appearance). For her bio, read my profile, but understand, she's been through hell, so she might seem a LOT different than she reads on my profile for a while. This is really a story about getting back on your feet after you've been put through literal hell.

The **only** pairing suggestions I'm taking are **Dean Ambrose** or **Zack Ryder**, **maybe Randy Orton**, though I honestly do not see how he'd figure into all this, given she's only had past ties to Dean and Zack.

No flames, please? I'm not a good writer, I'm aware of this already. And I write things as if some of the kayfabe were real. So if you don't like that concept you won't like the onscreen parts in this.

Question: Should I have her come back in as a Diva, or have her come back in some lesser capacity like maybe a hair and makeup person or a medic? Or have her doing one of those AND being a partial Diva? I can't decide and it's driving me up a wall.


	4. Black Widows And Total Divas

She'd just set foot in her hotel room, fallen across her bed, tired as hell when she got a cell phone call.

"Hello?"

All she heard was heavy breathing and the word 'Soon' before the phone went to dialtone.

"Yeah.. you're gonna think soon, you little shit." she growled to herself, her stomach twisting in knots. She could pretend bravery all day long, until she was blue in the face, but when it came to Will..

The man terrified her.

She threw the phone down onto the bed and it rang again. She picked it up, bracing herself, snapped "What the fuck, seriously, Will? If you're gonna come at me, go ahead and fucking.."

She grimaced when she heard her father demanding "When the fuck did Will call you? Why have you NOT told me or your stepmom yet?"

"Whoa, dad, he just called. I was about to call you guys."

"Right, sure you were.. This new attitude.. Somehow it's got me wondering if you'd have said anything or tried to handle it alone.."

"You saw the whole thing at breakfast.."

"Yeah, saw it and heard it.. Which leads in to what I was calling about.. Your grandfather, he's g ot your contract on file still.."

"But you hated it when I was on the roster, you were constantly saying that you didn't like me fighting."

"But you loved it, Lexi, admit it." Paul stated as she nodded and then said quietly, "Just not too sure I have it in me, daddy."

"I think you do."

"Wait.. Are you asking if I'll come back on the roster? I mean.."

"Sort of.. Your grandfather had a good idea actually, and a few minutes ago, I had an interesting conversation with AJ Lee of all people.. Who apparently thinks you need to try again?"

"Daaad."

"Hey, I'm just saying what was said."

"What was Gramps idea?"

"You come back part time at first, ease your way back into the roster. He knew you'd never agree to just step back in."

"Not when he has girls like Nat already, just needs to use her so much better than she's being used now, daddy.."

"I know, we're working on that. This show's helpin her though."

"I won't be on it.. I just.."

"Yeah, I told him you wouldn't be appearing on Total Divas." Paul reassured his daughter, brow raised.

When she'd been younger, she loved being on camera, she'd often said she wanted to be a model or a dancer, an actress if she couldn't wrestle.

Now she was practically a hermit, apparently.

What the hell had Will done to his baby girl?

If he did see Will again, he was going to KILL the little shit.

"So if I'm gonna come back part time.. What else am I gonna do?"

"Well, you do know massage therapy, you did get that license in nursing.. You can assist the medic with the smaller things, like say if one of the guys comes in with a hangover or needs their arms wrapped or something. It's not much but.."

"I'll take it, daddy." Lexi muttered before she even realized the words were out of her mouth, surprising herself.

She'd realized earlier, while sparring with AJ and Kaitlyn when she stopped by for a few moments that she did miss the thrill of fighting.

At least this time she couldn't say she hadn't tried, right?

"So.. AJ talked to you about me working with her."

"Yeah, and Kaitlyn and a few of the other girls they're friends with agreed to help, so for now, you can come down with them when they're out there, being Anti Total Divas. We'll figure out something more permanent, when you decide if you want to be on the roster completely or not."

She thought it over and then said with a smirk, "So I can be a bad guy then.."

"Basically, yeah.. Personally, green butterfly, I think you'd do best on the bad side. We don't really have many of the girls who just wanna make people hate them."

"And I am in a dark place right now, daddy, I could sort of channel that."

"So, you're gonna be good to go tonight then, right?"

"Huh, whoa, wait.."

"The girls are doing a spot."

"Oh."

"Yeah, if you're gonna be a part of this, you need to be in as soon as possible."

"Okay, so I'll go down with 'em tonight."

"You're sure you're alright?"

"Daaad. I'm fine. Totally fine."

He looked at her as he hugged her and said with a smile, "Your stepmom and I are just glad you came back."

"Me too, daddy."

After her father left, she combed through her closet, trying to find something to wear, since apparently now, she was going to be on the spot AJ and the other girls against the new reality show had in tonights show.

"I fucking need help." she texted AJ who showed up a few moments later, the girls going through all of her current clothing.

"Since when do you like dressing like a homeless punker, Lexi?" Layla asked as Lexi shrugged and said quietly, "If I'm not actually pretty, why bother?"

The girls looked at her and then at each other quietly, but said nothing.

They could all tell that something deep down within Lexi had changed.. They only hoped that being back out on the road and in the ring would help bring more of her old self back.

Finally, about 10 minutes before they all had to be at the arena, they settled on an outfit.

She ran into the bathroom to change and stepped out a few moments later, looked at herself in the mirror as she said quietly, "Missing one thing." before grabbing a leather jacket and some engineer boots.

"Wow, that is.. That is your new look."

"I like it, it's edgy."

"So.. Did you pick a theme song yet?"

Lexi thought it over and smiling dug through her cds, held up a Motorhead cd.

"I was thinking about comin in like my dad.."

"You mean DX Hunter or.."

"Mhmm.. "

"So which song?"

"Hellraiser, maybe?"

"Since when do you even listen to this.. I mean I remember the first time you were on the roster, you liked all that pop music, and rap."

"I'm not the same girl, guys." Lexi reminded them again as they all drew straws, deciding wich of their vehicles to take to the arena.

The entire ride to the arena was filled with discussions, catching up. And Lexi felt a lot better knowing that at least she was giving this a shot again.

And excited, of course, because she was getting to start out as a bad girl this time.

Her cell phone rang and she bit her lip, glancing at it warily. She quickly hit ignore and when asked about it, she lied and said quietly, "Wrong number."

"My ass. I saw the phone, girl. Name came up." Alicia said calmly as Layla asked, "Does your dad know he's taken to calling you?"

"Yeah, and I'm gonna tell you guys like I'm gonna tell him. I've got this.. After all the hell he put me through? Damn right I'm gonna get my hands on him if he even thinks about showing his face."

They blinked and then Kaitlyn spoke up pointing out, "Personally, I like the new attitude.. Most of it.. But I don't get why in the hell you keep saying you're ugly. You're not."

"I am. Just trust me, okay. I'm nowhere near as pretty as any of you."

Once they were all in the backstage area, they began getting ready for their spot on the show.

Lexi was practically bouncing on her toes, she was that ready to do this, see if she could make it.

Finally, their spot came, and first, the other girls went down, got into their places at the ringside, where they were doing commentary together, while Alicia faced off against Jojo.

About halfway in, Hellraiser began to play and Lexi made her way down to the announcer's booth, taking a seat near Michael Cole.

"Haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been around, Cole."

"Did you come to visit your dad?" Jerry asked as he looked at her, concerned. She just didn't look healthy or happy.

Her eyes used to dance. They didnt' anymore.

"No, actually.."

"Are you back on the roster?" JBL asked as he eyed her in concern.

"Sort of."

At the end of the match, AJ and the girls slid into the ring, and began attacking Jojo, the other girls who'd come down to screw Alicia out of a win.

And then AJ announced that if any of the Total Divas backstage were woman enough, they were welcome to come down to the ring, try them.

Lexi smirked as she took the mic and said "Hey.. If you're back there, bastard child of Ronald McDonald.. Me and you."

Eva Marie's music hit and Eva walked down, laughing.

"Seriously? The drunk is calling ME out?"

"Well look at this, girls, she knows her fucking name already.. Yeah, Eva.. I'm calling you out."

"Really.. Because trust me, Lexi, you don't wanna go there. Remember last time you went there?"

Lexi leaned in and smirking grabbed her collar as she said calmly, " There's a difference in last time and this time, Eva.. Bring your friends you fake ass stripper.. Bring all of 'em for all I care.."

Eva glared and Lexi smirked as she added, Fucking bozo the clown. I leave and they hire fucking bozo the clown."

The girls dropped their mics and slid out of the ring, skipping up the ramp, taunting the Total Divas from the top.

Backstage, they all highfived as they said "So we all know they're gonna get us back for that later."

"Not if we strike them first."

"Are you thinking what I am, AJ?"

"Depends, Layla.."

"Oh, just that we start a brawl right out in the bloody hallway."

"I like." Lexi muttered as Kaitlyn asked her, "So.. how'd it feel?"

"I think I'm gonna like being a bad bitch." Lexi muttered as she gave a half grin.

"Let's go find food. I'm starving." AJ said as they set off for catering, planning their next move. So far, so good. But Lexi wasn't about to let her guard down just yet. After all, he was calling her..

* * *

Authors Note:

This story will most likely have a lot of dark themes in it. Lexi is at a bad place in her life, and she's on somewhat of a destructive bend. That being said, there will also be a lot of angst, maybe some violence (domestic, if her ex makes an appearance). For her bio, read my profile, but understand, she's been through hell, so she might seem a LOT different than she reads on my profile for a while. This is really a story about getting back on your feet after you've been put through literal hell.

The **only** pairing suggestions I'm taking are **Dean Ambrose** or **Zack Ryder**, **maybe Randy Orton**, though I honestly do not see how he'd figure into all this, given she's only had past ties to Dean and Zack.

No flames, please? I'm not a good writer, I'm aware of this already. And I write things as if some of the kayfabe were real. So if you don't like that concept you won't like the onscreen parts in this.

Question: Should I have her come back in as a Diva, or have her come back in some lesser capacity like maybe a hair and makeup person or a medic? Or have her doing one of those AND being a partial Diva? I can't decide and it's driving me up a wall.


	5. for every two steps forward one goes bac

"Whoa.. Lexi.. You've had 7 already." AJ said as she shot her friend a warning look. Tonight just felt like a good night for a fight, and the situation was made even more volatile when the door opened and the Bellas, Natalya, the Funkadactyls and Eva Marie walked in.

"Just who the f-fuck I-I've been lookin for." Lexi smirked as she stumbled to stand, only to be grabbed quickly and quietly by AJ and Kaitlyn both of whom said "Whoa, there, Sparky. Might not be such a good idea to pick a fight now."

"Yeah, let them start it." AJ suggested as Lexi thought about it a moment. She nodded a little, tried getting back onto her stool, the stool ultimately falling over. When she realized that she wasn't sitting back down as easily as she previously thought, she wove her way stumbling through a thick crowd of people in the bar, towards the pool tables in the back, swearing when she'd get nudged or looked at oddly.

It'd been a huge mistake to come out and think she wouldn't see something, hear something that'd trigger a memory of all she lost, all she'd never have now, thanks to the damage done to her by Will. But she hadn't wanted to be a spoil sport, and she'd been fine until she heard the slow song that played at her wedding to Will play, saw Tyson and Natalya, how happy they looked with one another, and then her bitterness washed over her.

She'd been that happy before Will revealed himself to be the monster he turned out to be. Then again, all men were mostly monsters, weren't they? And the ones who weren't thought they were too fucked up to even try and be happy. She sighed to herself as she bit her lower lip, scowled at a happy couple on her way through the crowd, towards the pool tables.

Dean Ambrose stood trying to chat up a ring rat, like usual, when someone shoved into his back then swore as they practically growled at him to quote 'move their damn ass' end quote.

He turned, fist raised, ready to swing at someone or something, but found Lexi standing there, sipping from a tall bottle of Southern Comfort. She smirked drunkenly as she muttered, "I thought it was you." before biting her lower lip, giving a slightly saddened sigh, turning to walk away.

Normally, on any other night, Dean would have ignored the drunken bitch, or any drunken bitch, for that matter, went back to lining up a quick lay for later on in the night. But Lexi, well.. She had this sort of odd hold on him, and he'd been thinking a lot about her lately, about what might have been, had he not let her just leave and go marry some jerk who said all the right things, did all the right things, would commit to her when he wouldn't do it then, but any idiot could clearly see the guy hadn't actually given a damn about her.

He held up a finger and muttered something to the ring rat then caught up to a staggering sloppily drunk Lexis, steadying her by her elbow, taking the bottle.

"Gimme that back, fucking now." she spat as she looked at him a moment, her hand in her hair, her eyes looked dead now, he noticed.

"New look, huh?" he asked as he studied her holey denim mini skirt, the hip length studded and chained motorcycle jacket, the biker boots.

"Go back to your whore, Mox." she grumbled as she leaned in, snatched for the bottle, almost falling on her face as he steadied her then looked at her. His eyes took in this new version of Lexi Levesque, and he bit his lower lip, feeling angry. If he ever got his damn hands on this Will person..

Will would die slowly and he would die painfully.

"I said go." Lexi spat as she made one final grab for the bottle. He snatched it just out of her reach and then noticed a few old fading bruises, a few deep looking scars on her arms and hands.

"What the fuck happened to ya?"

"What the fuck do you even care? I was nothing to you, remember? We were just friends with benefits, you said it you-yourself."

He looked at her, shook his head. Why'd she care when she agreed to it in the first place, hell, she was the one who wanted it that way to start off with? His hands closed around her wrists as she went to walk away, and he shook his head, pulling her back, picking her up over his shoulders. If someone had done this to him, maybe, when he'd been at his worst, he wouldn't have been too fucked up to let her get away from him back then.

But they hadn't.

"Yeah, well.. You agreed to it, babe, so.. And ya walked out.." he muttered as he turned to walk towards the door, her over his shoulder, yelling at him, not caring who heard her or what she said even, just mad as hell at the moment.

Her teeth made hard and painful contact with his shoulder blades, but he didn't really say anything until he got her outside the bar, into the icy cold rain. Then he shoved her right underneath an overhang on the building they stood in front of, letting the rain soak her.

"You s-son of a b-bitch.. I'll fucking k-kick your ass." she growled as she started towards him, her eyes flashing some kind of real emotion for once, since she'd been back on the road with the show. He smirked, caught her hands just as she was about to hit him, most likely and said simply, "Do I need to throw ya ass in that fountain, Alexis?"

She stared at him blankly, not amused currently. "Lemme g-go back inside, damn it."

"If you wanna go back in, princess.. Ya gonna have to go through me."

He took out his cigarettes, lit one.

"Fucking f-fuck." she grumbled as she started to sober up a little, remembered why she'd been walking to the back of the bar earlier. She turned away from him and looked out at the parking lot then said quietly, "Don't t-try and save me. It's not worth the waste in time." as she raked her hand through wet hair.

"Never said I was, Alexis." he mumbled as he exhaled deeply, walked up behind her, standing there, so she didn't fall over backwards. "Does daddy know just how damn much ya drinkin?"

"I-it's not a-all the time."

"Sure it's not, princess." he said quietly, then turned her around to look at her, his eyes lingering on her arms and hands. "What the fuck happened there?"

She shrugged then muttered quietly, "Everything I deserved, really. I got nothing from that son of a bitch I didn't deserve." as she looked down and bit her lower lip then said "Going inside now, Mox."

"No.. Ya not."

"Yes hell I-I am."

"Ya not, because I'm hailin a cab and we're gonna go back to the hotel." he said firmly, as he looked at her.

"I'm not gonna fall back into bed with you. I just... I can't, okay?"

"Don't flatter yourself, princess. If I wanted sex, I never woulda ran out on that ring rat in there." Dean snapped as he took a quick deep breath, said quietly, "Sorry."

She shrugged and turned away from him, arms around herself. "I'm not your fucking problem."

"Ya not, but.. Not gonna let one of those fuckin idiots try something either."

AJ and Kaitlyn ran out the door to the bar and after giving Dean dirty looks, they got her back inside, leaving him to stand outside, looking out at the parking lot, finishing his cigarette.

"No more for you tonight, girl."

"Yeah.. If we hadn't stopped you just now.. What the fuck were you thinking? Ambrose? Really? He's not a good guy."

"AJ, Ambrose is Mox."

AJ blinked at her newest best friend a moment, shocked.. "Whoa, wait.. You mean Jon Moxley, right? As in Dean's other character.. From the indies?"

"yeah."

"So he's the guy you feel like you shouldn't have walked away from for Will?"

"Mhmm."

"Still though, he's fucking Ambrose, AJ.. It's not a good idea, especially not with her..." Kaitlyn trailed off as she and AJ shared a look. They'd tried for a while now, getting her to talk about everything that'd happened to her, but she just seemed to go into shutdown mode. She handled herself fine nearly all the time, but sometimes, it was as if she just wanted to drink herself numb or something.

"Let's just go back to the hotel, okay?"

"Yeah, we called a cab." Kaitlyn said as the three girls walked out of the bar, and stood there, waiting on a cab.

The entire time they stood there, Dean stared a hole through Lexi, trying to figure her out now. He used to know her like the back of his hand.. Now he had no idea what was going on in her head anymore. He sighed to himself quietly and walked over, asked them, "Need me to help ya get her in the cab?"

"No, Ambrose, we've got it. It's not like she's an alcoholic. She does this maybe once in a while at best. She's having a rough time right now. She didn't wanna come out tonight, we made her, thought it might help her."

"The only thing that's gonna help her, girls.. Is if that bastard Will shows up and suffers a little accident. And if Daddy don't do it? I'm gonna do it." Dean said quietly as he looked at her and said calmly, "Later. We're talking." before turning to AJ and Kaitlyn then saying quietly, "I've been where she is before. If she says she'll be okay, tries to get ya to leave.. Don't. Just trust me."

Having said that, he turned on his heels, walked back in the bar.

AJ and Kaitlyn gaped at each other, then looked at Lexi who said quietly, "I never should have come out with you guys tonight."

"Well we weren't leaving you alone in your hotel room either." Layla said as she stepped up behind them and said "Alicia's on the way.. She said Ryan was trying to catch her before that ass Ambrose picked her up."

"Ambrose, Layla, might not be such an ass after all." AJ stated as she looked at the spot Dean had been standing in in complete and total confusion. He almost looked like seeing their best friend in as much pain as she was in, in the shape she was in, well.. he almost looked like it hurt him to watch.

* * *

Authors Note:

**Trigger alert: If you're not into reading about what alcoholism can do to you, this chapter isn't advised reading. If this is gonna stir something up for you, avoid it. Lexi as stated below, is going through a lot right now, and she's not perfect, so she naturally has a weakness. She uses alcohol and fighting as crutches. **

This story will most likely have a lot of dark themes in it. Lexi is at a bad place in her life, and she's on somewhat of a destructive bend. That being said, there will also be a lot of angst, maybe some violence (domestic, if her ex makes an appearance). For her bio, read my profile, but understand, she's been through hell, so she might seem a LOT different than she reads on my profile for a while. This is really a story about getting back on your feet after you've been put through literal hell.

Okay, so you guys have been leaving reviews and encouragement. I love you so much for that, really. I'm glad you all like this one, despite it's dark and slightly self destructive bends at times! Due to feedback, am going to pair her with Dean ultimately. Given their history, it just feels like the right way to go, really. I'm gonna have her doing both medic duties and being a partial Diva for a while. She might become a full fledged Diva by the end of this however, so thanks to everyone who spoke up on that.

No flames, please? I'm not a good writer, I'm aware of this already. And I write things as if some of the kayfabe were real. So if you don't like that concept you won't like the onscreen parts in this.


	6. father daughter confrontations

_Now she found herself in the fast lane_  
_ Livin' day to day_  
_ Turned her back on her best friends, yeah_  
_ And watched her family slip away_  
_ Just like a lost soul_  
_ Caught up in the Hollywood scene_  
_ All the parties and limousines_

_Such a good actress_  
_ Hiding all her pain_  
_ Trading in memories for fortune and fame_  
_ Just a step away from the edge of the fall_  
_ Caught between heaven and hell_  
_ Where's the girl I knew a year ago_

_Poison, Fallen Angel, Open Up and Say Ahh_

Paul knocked on the door to his daughters hotel room. He heard moving around, grumbling and finally, a few minutes later, she opened the door, wearing shades. He looked at her and then asked, "So I'm takin it what Ambrose told me about ya last night was true."

"It was a few drinks. Pretty sure he was just telling you to start shit, dad." Lexi muttered, wincing at the sound of her own voice even. Her hair hurt, practically. Her father looked at her a few moments, she knew he wasn't just gonna buy what everyone else seemed to, so she sighed and stepped out of the doorway, letting him step into her room.

"Wow.. Did you do this?"

"Mhmm."

"Why?"

All he got from his petite and now apparently platinum blonde daughter was a pained shrug as she said quietly, "I'm really not ready to talk about it, daddy."

He sighed and shook his head as he pulled the envelope from behind his back, pointed her to a table in the room. "Sit."

"Dad, really?"

"Just humor me, okay?" Paul said calmly as he took the papers out of the envelope, revealing her sealed hospital records from the past two years, from her childhood BEFORE she'd come to live with her father.

"Not getting out of this, am I, sir?" she asked as she squirmed uncomfortably, didn't look up to meet her father's concerned gaze. What made her madder than anything right now, was because Dean Ambrose had to be nosy, he had to speak up about her 'so called out of control' behavior.

When he hadn't minded it one little bit, when they were together, sleeping around with each other back then.

"Why didn't you ever say anything about any of this?"

"Because, dad, I just didn't wanna talk about it, okay? And I actually still don't."

"You need to, or this?" he swept his muscular arms around the room, "Is gonna happen more than you want it to. And trust me.. The way you're handling all this? It's not a healthy one. I've been quiet long enough, princess. So today, we're gonna talk."

"You have no idea what it's like, do you?" she started as she looked at the table, willing the words to come before saying finally, "You lose a child, tell me if you feel like talking about it."

He hugged her and said quietly, "Do you really think your kid would want mommy doing this to herself though?"

"No. But I just.. I can't stop it. I'll think I'm fine, dad, and something will trigger it for me and before I know it, I'm either getting thrown out somewhere for fighting, or I'm buried so deep in the nearest bottle, I can't get out." Lexi muttered quietly as she raked her hand through her freshly platinum dyed hair, wincing as she bit her lip and said quietly, "The other stuff I never told you because I was just so damn grateful that when I showed up on you and Steph's doorstep that you took me in, I didn't wanna be a bother."

"I know, kid.. And you never shoulda had to feel that way. I could choke your mother for letting you grow up thinking all the stuff she let you grow up thinking." Paul said quietly as he hugged her and then said quietly, "If you wanna drink, talk instead."

Lexi nodded, biting her lower lip, disgusted with herself, knowing she'd probably turn around and do it again the first time she had a trigger moment, because she hated to admit it, that's how weak she really was.

"If you don't stop, you're not gonna be able to fight. I will send you to rehab. You're my daughter, I love you too damn much to watch this happen to you." Paul admitted as he hugged her again and then said "Feel up to eating?"

"yes sir." Lexi muttered quietly, getting up, throwing on some baggy gym shorts, tying a lime green bandanna in her hair before shoving a hoodie down over her head, sliding her feet into a pair of brightly colored Nikes.

"No makeup?"

"Nope.. There's really no sense in it." Lexi muttered as she shrugged and he sighed, looking at her. "Look.. You need to talk to someone.. Talk to the therapist that works with the company. I set you up an appointment for 12."

She nodded, took the card, disgusted with herself, everything she'd let herself get into up to this point, everything she'd lost and the way she coped with it. She knew she'd probably drink again, but she was going to try her best not to, she really was. Even if it meant getting AJ and Kaitlyn, the girls to take her everywhere personally.

They sat down at the table with her stepmother and her half sisters. She avoided looking anyone in the eye, ate her food quietly, until Stephanie looked at her and then asked "Did you finally talk?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. And your father told you that if you didn't stop you're going to rehab, right? We're all worried to death about you, Lexi."

Lexi nodded, ate her food, staring at her plate intently. Once she'd finished eating, she begged off of going to an amusement park with her stepmom and her dad, her younger half sisters, and instead, she found herself donning a swimsuit, walking down to the beach, just sitting there, staring out at the water.

"Thought I'd find ya here." Dean spoke up from behind her as she turned, glared at him. "You had to just run, bust your ass to tell him, didn't you?"

"If somebody woulda done the same shit for me, Lexi, we wouldn't be having this conversation." he said grimly, flopping down onto the sand beside her, looking out at the water as he said "Because I never woulda let you leave with that jackass Will.. Is it true?"

"What?"

"He beat ya until ya miscarried.."

"How the hell do you even.."

"I was curious, so I kinda looked at the medical records, Alexis." Dean said as he looked at her then asked, "Why the hell did ya dye ya hair?"

"Dunno.. I only vaguely remember doing it last night sometime."

"Why'd you let me leave?"

Dean shrugged, studying his hands a moment as he said "Doesn't matter now, does it?"

"To me, yeah, kinda."

"Just reasons, okay?"

"Asshole." she muttered as she bit her lower lip and then said quietly, "Sorry, it's just.. Kind of spent my last two years on the run.. Get used to doing things for yourself, you realize just how much you take for granted when you're trying to keep everyone you care about from becoming a target because of your own damn stupidity."

"Kinda like ya better this way." Dean admitted as he added quickly, "Minus the damn drinkin. Ya a damn sloppy drunk."

Lexi groaned as she looked at him and then said quietly, " I didn't wanna leave, but you didn't wanna be serious. I loved you."

He looked at her, blinked a moment as he said "I treated ya like shit. Don't say that."

"I loved you despite that." Lexi said as she looked at him and then said quickly, "Wanna go for a swim or something?"

"You sure you should? I mean ya gotta have the hangover from hell right now."

"It's fading."

He nodded and they ran towards the ocean, falling into the water, almost falling on top of each other. He looked up at her and he almost kissed her, but he decided against. Better to be her friend right now than put her through even more hell than she'd already lived through. The old injuries and illnesses he'd read in her files, the sick things done to her before she escaped to her father as a teenager were burned into his mind and he knew with utmost certainty that if he got his hands on Will anytime soon..

Will was a dead man walking, if of course, her father didn't beat him to it.

* * *

Authors Note:

**Trigger alert: If you're not into reading about what alcoholism can do to you, this chapter isn't advised reading. If this is gonna stir something up for you, avoid it. Lexi as stated below, is going through a lot right now, and she's not perfect, so she naturally has a weakness. She uses alcohol and fighting as crutches. **

This story will most likely have a lot of dark themes in it. Lexi is at a bad place in her life, and she's on somewhat of a destructive bend. That being said, there will also be a lot of angst, maybe some violence (domestic, if her ex makes an appearance). For her bio, read my profile, but understand, she's been through hell, so she might seem a LOT different than she reads on my profile for a while. This is really a story about getting back on your feet after you've been put through literal hell.

Okay, so you guys have been leaving reviews and encouragement. I love you so much for that, really. I'm glad you all like this one, despite it's dark and slightly self destructive bends at times! Due to feedback, am going to pair her with Dean ultimately. Given their history, it just feels like the right way to go, really. I'm gonna have her doing both medic duties and being a partial Diva for a while. She might become a full fledged Diva by the end of this however, so thanks to everyone who spoke up on that.

No flames, please? I'm not a good writer, I'm aware of this already. And I write things as if some of the kayfabe were real. So if you don't like that concept you won't like the onscreen parts in this.


End file.
